Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)
Alhamdulillah was Salatu Wassalamu 'ala Rasulullah wa ba'd
Have you ever prayed with or behind the imam at the masjid
and when the Iman begins the qunoot,
you just say "Ameen" during the pauses
you don't really understand the du'a
that he's making
or maybe you yourself are making du'a
you've memorized the du'a
and you don't really know what it means
you're just saying the du'a?
Well, we want that to change.
We want this Ramadan to be a Ramadan
where you really feel the du'a,
when you say "Ameen,"
you mean, "Oh, Allah answer this prayer."
(brooding music)
So inshaAllah, what we're going to cover today
is the famous du'a
that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
taught his grandson Al Hasan radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu to say.
And that du'a is:
"Allahumma ihdini fi-man hadayta
wa'afini fi-man 'afayta
wa-tawallani fi-man tawwalayta
wa-barik li fi-ma a'tayta
wa-qini sharra ma qadayta
innaka taqdi wa-la yuqda 'alayka
innahu la yadhillu man walayta
tabarakta rabbana wa-ta'alayta."
This du'a includes five requests
from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
The first of those requests is a request for guidance.
Allahumma ihdini fi-man hadayta
Oh Allah, guide me amongst those whom You have guided.
Look at this du'a, subhanallah,
the du'a starts off
asking Allah for guidance.
Now you're making this du'a qunoot
which means that you've already prayed
17 obligatory raka'ats that day.
And then some raka'ats for witr or qiyamul layl.
So you've asked Allah already during the day
for guidance in Surat al Fatiha
several times throughout the day.
And yet here we are again
asking Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la for guidance.
And that's because guidance is essential
in every aspect of our lives.
We need Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's guidance
for everything that we do.
And we need Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's guidance
in the next life.
That part there I think most of us understand,
but there's a part of this du'a
that is often skipped over and that is "fi man hadayta."
"Guide us amongst those whom You have guided."
This is very similar to what we say in Surat al Fatiha
when we say "Ihdinassirat al mustaqeem,"
guide us along the straight path.
That straight path
at this particular point in the du'a
and when we're asking for guidance
is somewhat abstract and somewhat theoretical.
Until we say "siratalladhina an 'amta alaihim,"
the path of those whom You have favored.
Now, that path becomes something that is not abstract
because we know those whom Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
has favored
from the prophets and from the sincere and truthful
and from the martyrs and from the righteous.
And so by studying their lives, we now have a blueprint,
we have a roadmap to what guidance actually looks like.
Similarly, when we say "Guide us
among those whom You have guided," then we think about
those whom Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has actually guided.
And this shows us the importance of having a role model
or role models when we talk about guidance.
Not just some abstract theoretical path
but actually a path that is well trodden
so that we can--bi idhnillah--travel that path
that is pleasing to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
The second request is for that of al 'afiyah
which we normally translate as wellbeing.
We're asking Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
to grant us wellbeing
physically, mentally and spiritually.
Now a lot of times when we make this du'a
when we think about wellbeing, everybody kinda knows
that they want to be well physically and mentally,
what may not immediately come to mind
is spiritual wellbeing, and that is something
that we should not neglect to think about
when we're making du'a.
You see, when we are making du'a
it's not just something that we're saying
off of our tongues, we're actually supposed to be thinking
about the things that we're saying,
we're supposed to be recalling these meanings.
So we're asking for afiyah,
we want to be healthy, both our physical and mental health
but we also want to be spiritually healthy,
free from the diseases of shubuhat
that is doubts
and free from vain desires, shahawat.
The third request is a very interesting request,
you're asking Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
to be your close ally,
to be a close companion.
"watawallani fi man tawalayta"
And befriend me amongst those whom You have befriended.
What does it mean for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
to be your wali, to be your protector,
or to take you as a wali?
And so there's a companionship there.
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la talks about this in the Qu'ran
when He says Allahu waliyyuladhina amanu
yukhrijuhu mina dhulumati ila al-noor
Allah is the wali of those who have faith,
He takes them out of darkness into the light.
So when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
is your companion or your ally,
when He is your wali and He befriends you,
then any dark situation that you are in
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la will bring you into the light.
And who are these people?
Ala inna awliyaa' Allah
la yakhawfun alaihim wa la hum yahzanoon
alladhina amanu wa kanu yattaqoon
Indeed the awliyaa' of Allah,
they will not have any fear, nor will they be sad,
then Allah says who they are, alladhina amanu,
those who believe, wa kanu yattaqoon,
and who had taqwa.
What are we striving for in this month of Ramadan?
We're striving for taqwa, right?
So this dua
when we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
to be our wali
we're asking that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
increase us in our faith
and make us people of taqwa.
The fourth request is that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
bestow barakah
in everything that he has given us.
Wa barikli fi ma a'tayt
Well, what does that exactly mean?
That Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la put barakah in it?
When Allah 'Azawajal
puts barakah in something,
he stabilizes it and causes it to develop and to grow,
nourishes that thing.
So you have barakah in your time, for example,
an hour for you, may be like three hours for somebody else
because Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
has put barakah in your time.
When Allah puts barakah in food
you may only have a little bit but it suffices so much.
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
talked about the barakah
that's in suhoor right?
By eating the suhoor.
Sometimes you only eat a very little bit
for suhoor
but it lasts you throughout the day.
Any other time of the year
you eat that little bit of amount of food
and it's not gonna suffice you.
And so this is what barakah is.
But notice here, you're saying, "wa barakli fi ma a'tayt"
and put barakah
in everything that you have given me.
Well, is there something that you have
that wasn't given to you by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la?
Everything that we have, tangible or intangible
was given to us by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
Wa ma bikum min ni'matin fa min Allah
Whatever blessing you have,
whatever ni'mah you have is from Allah.
Your hearing, your sight, your ability to taste,
your time, your wealth, your children
all of that is from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
When Allah puts barakah in those things
He stabilizes them for you and He causes them to develop.
And this is what we're asking Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
when we say "Wa baarikli fi ma a'tayt"
"Bless me in everything that You have given me."
Most people can think of something that has happened to them
that they initially thought was bad, only to later
see the wisdom of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in that thing.
These are things that we may dislike
but evil is a totally different matter.
Evil is how we respond to those afflictions and calamities
and things that may happen that we think are bad.
So if we respond by
losing trust in Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
or being dissatisfied and not content with His decree,
then this is evil.
Likewise Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has given mankind
the ability to obey or disobey Him.
So disobedience, even though it occurs
by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's will,
it's not pleasing to Allah,
it is the evil of what He has decreed.
So in this prayer, we're seeking refuge
with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la from the evil of disbelief
and idolatry and murder and adultery
and all other forms of disobedience to
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)